These Winter Nights
by shootingsilver
Summary: When Booth and Brennan are stranded on a lonely road in New Hampshire, in the middle of December, what will happen between everybody's favorite pair? Will sparks fly? or will the partnership fall apart?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: so I know I really should update my other story before starting a new one…but this came into my head and even though its 1:30 AM Christmas night (or I guess, the day after) and I couldn't sleep so I decided to write. Set around Christmas of Season 3, but Santa in the Slush never happened. Hope you enjoy!**

"Hey, _Bones_. Whatcha doing for Christmas this year?" asked Booth as he strolled into Dr. Temperance Brennan's office, clutching a manila folder.

"I'm planning to fly to Mauritania to help identify multiple human remains found in a desert in the northern part of the country. The arid desert climate has preserved the skeletons extremely well – they could be centuries old. I'm very excited.," replied Brennan as she typed busily at her computer, only pausing to look up at Booth when he dropped the manila folder in front of her face.

"Not anymore, you're not. We're headed to New England, Bones, so you'd better do some repacking. Anything you were planning to wear in that Maritanian desert of yours is not suitable for a New England winter." Brennan scowled at Booth as she replied "It's _Mauritian _desert, and I am _not _going with you on this case! I've already bought my plane tickets, I've told Cam I'm taking a vacation, and I've informed the supervisor of the dig that I will be arriving to help. I'm sorry, Booth, but you'll have to take Zach on this one."

Booth plopped onto her couch and rubbed his head in his hands. "Bones, Zach left yesterday for Michigan. Angela and Hodgins have agreed to drop their vacation plans and do whatever we need for the case. Please, just cooperate with me on this one." He looked at her hopefully. Brennan gave him an appraising glance "You don't get Parker for Christmas, do you? Really, Booth, I am sorry, but I just can't go on this one."

"Bones, you just don't get it, do you? You're coming with me whether you like it or not, because we're partners. As in, we do stuff together. This isn't exactly my idea of a dream vacation, either. Look, if you're gonna be difficult, go yell at Cam. I just do what I'm assigned."

Brennan stood up angrily and grabbed her coat. "Fine, Booth. That's exactly what I'll do. I'll go talk to Cam. See you in 3 weeks." she spat at him before storming out of her office.

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Agent Booth grinned happily as he cruised down the highway, leaving the clutter of the city behind. He glanced over at his traveling companion, and his grin grew even wider as he observed Dr. Brennan, world-renowned forensic anthropologist, slumped in her seat and glaring at a spot on the windshield. "You know, Bones, the poor windshield didn't have anything to do with Cam exerting her executive authority, so I doubt scowling at it like it mortally offended you will help you fly to that desert-place in Africa."

"How much longer until we reach wherever the FBI is sending us? And why did you have to bury my laptop in the back? Staring out the window is not conducive to getting work done, and I haven't been very productive lately." replied Brennan, her eyes never leaving the windshield.

"We're headed to the White Mountains, Bones, in the heart of the 'Granite State', otherwise known as New Hampshire. Plus, you're supposed to be my travel companion, ya know, keep me awake and all that stuff, although you're not doing a very good job."

Brennan gave him a Look and said "I'm going to sleep. Wake me up when we get there."

_Nine hours later…_

"Mhmm, Booth..Why are we stopped? Are we there yet?" mumbled Brennan sleepily as she stretched and yawned.

Booth was the picture of annoyance and frustration as he replied testily "No, we're not there yet. The car's broken down on a godforsaken back road miles from anywhere, with no cell service, in the middle of a snowstorm. Just great. Look, you stay in the car, I'm gonna go see if I can figure out what's wrong with the engine"

"What!? Booth, no! I'm coming too!" exclaimed Brennan as she woke up completely. Booth began to argue "Bones, it's way too cold out there. You'll freeze to death!" but quickly gave up when he saw her determined face. "Just, wear your coat, okay? And come back inside the car if you get too cold."

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Booth slammed the hood of the car down angrily. He hadn't been able to figure out what was wrong with the stupid car, and to make things worse, Bones had insisted on standing outside with him the entire time, in the middle of a snowstorm. "C'mon, Bones, let's get back inside the car. We can wait 'till morning, maybe someone else will be driving down this road then. Anyway, it's stupid to wait out here; we'll both get frostbite.

Too cold to protest, Brennan climbed into the SUV when Booth opened the door for her. She neglected to make a scathing remark when he repeatedly glanced at her, concerned. "You all right Bones? You can't stop shaking." Brennan replied, "Well, if I had been in Mauritania, where I wanted to be, I wouldn't be cold, now would I? This is all your fault, Booth, so just let me be, please."

They sat in silence for the next 45 minutes, with only the howling of the wind and the chattering of Brennan's teeth to break the quiet. Finally Booth burst out "Bones, you're obviously not all right. Maybe this is my fault, but I can't do anything about it now. The car is freezing, and the heater is broken. I noticed a barn out the window a little while ago; we can take shelter there. The snow has stopped for a while and the barn has got to be warmer than this."

It was sign of just how cold Brennan was that she didn't comment on his little speech, but just grabbed a blanket and got out of the car while she waited for him to grab another blanket and his keys.

Booth was right in that it had stopped snowing. The icy drifts crunched underneath their feet as the two lone figures made their way across a field, towards a large barn silhouetted against the night sky. The wind, too, had died down, but in place of the snow, icy pellets of rain began to pelt the pair, who were still a long way from shelter.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: well, I would have posted this last night, but my dad came in and kicked me off my computer around 2 AM. Reviews are nice… ******

Booth and Brennan finally reached the safety and shelter of the barn, and slipped inside. Booth grinned tiredly as he saw the hay loft, completely filled with warm, sweet hay. "Bones! Hey, look at this! I know where I'll be sleeping tonight!"

When he received no reply from his partner, Booth turned around and made his way concernedly over to Brennan. "Hey, Bones? You all right?" Brennan was slumped back against a wall, eyes closed as she tried to control her body's uncontrollatble shaking. "Yes, Booth, I'm absolutely fine. Just go to sleep. I'll see you in the morning." she snapped as she brushed roughly past him.

"Bones, your clothes are completely soaked with freezing rain, and you can't stop shaking. Look, I'll go to bed, but at least get out of those wet clothes. This isn't anytime to be modest, Bones, you could make yourself seriously sick."

Her tone strained, Brennan replied "I'm fine Booth. I don't need you or your alpha-male protective streak to take care of me. I've been through worse." The last part was said so quietly Booth had to strain his ears to hear it. He knew when Temperance Brennan needed to be left alone, and he was smart enough to realize that this was one of those times, so he climbed into the hayloft, pulled off his wet shirt, and tossed and turned until he had made a nest comfortable enough for himself. Yet, although he had seemingly complied with Brennan's wishes, he had no intention of actually going to sleep, not without knowing that his Bones was really all right.

Brennan waited, shaking and shivering and trying to stop, until she was satisfied that Booth had fallen asleep in the hayloft. He had tossed and turned for a while, but now he lay peacefully on a heap of hay. She began to strip, peeling her wet clothes off and tossing them on a pile on the floor until she wore only her bra and panties.

Booth had seen many beautiful, naked women in his life. He had never seen one as beautiful to him as Brennan. She stood illuminated in a shaft of moonlight, her lean body struggling to contain its shivers. He watched as she paused for a moment before walking over to wrap one of the blankets around her thin frame. Booth settled back into the hay and closed his eyes so she would not know he was awake when she came up to sleep.

An hour passed, but Booth never heard Brennan's footsteps in the ladder. Cautiously, he awoke and rolled over to get a better view of the floor below. Brennan was curled in a corner of the barn, wrapped in her blanket and sleeping fitfully.

"Aw, come on Bones. Don't be idiot, it's warm up here. I don't bite, you know. Sheesh."

Booth muttered to himself as he grumpily stood up, shivering as a cold breeze struck his bare chest. He made his way slowly to the ladder and climbed carefully downstairs and stood above his partner. He knew she had trouble sleeping most of the time, and dreaded waking her. Plus, he knew she would kick his ass before she let him help her sleep. No, it was better all around if Brennan stayed asleep. He froze as she whimpered in her sleep, and sighed with relief when she merely shifted the way she was sleeping. His heart went out to her; the strong façade she presented during the day crumbled at night, and left her showing her true vulnerabilities.

"C'mon Bones, let's get you somewhere warm." Booth whispered as he knelt down to cradle the sleeping anthropologist in his arms. He stood up carefully, shocked at how light and frail she really was, and how cold.

"Jesus, Bones, you're freezing. What the hell do you mean, Ms. I've-Been-Through-Worse?" He muttered disgruntled, and frightened for the brittle woman he was currently holding tenderly in his arms.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: I know this is really short, and I apologize for that. I just seemed to have reached a good stopping point, and I wanted to get this chapter up ASAP. I plan to work on the next chappie later this afternoon. I'm going to Best Buy to pick up my Bones dvds!! Merry Christmas to me : ) Enjoy, and plz review, 'cause my room is freezing and reviews make me feel all warm and happy inside. You wouldn't want me to freeze, would you?? :P **

Booth maneuvered carefully around the floor of the barn and up the ladder with Brennan in his arms. Having made it into the loft without incident, he carefully laid Brennan in his nest where she shifted and yawned, but never woke up completely. The F.B.I. agent lay down carefully next to the forensic anthropologist, and propped his head on his hand.

Booth had looked at Brennan plenty of times over the course of their partnership. Sometimes it was in anger, others in happiness, and sometimes he looked at her in a not-so-partnerly way. But Booth had never seen his Bones in anything less than a full set of clothes, despite what half the other agents at the Bureau thought.

Now she was lying almost completely naked in front of him, and his eyes scrutinized every inch of her body.

Brennan had pale skin that almost glowed in the moonlit loft. There was not an ounce of fat on her body. Every muscle was sharply defined in the pale light. Booth could see her ribs and shoulder blades, and made a resolution to double his efforts to get her to eat. Even more disturbing to him were the scars that riddled her body. He, too, had scars from his time as a Ranger, but he had never imagined Brennan would get into that kind of trouble when she traveled to those foreign countries of hers. He could also see burns on her arms, usually obscured by a long sleeve shirt. Unlike some of the scars, which looked relatively recent, the burns looked to be more than a decade old.

He softly traced the path of one especially long scar, running from her right shoulder across her back to just above her left hip. He stilled as she turned in her sleep, facing away from him, giving him an almost uninterrupted view of her back.

"God, Bones, who did this to you?" he murmured in shock. Brennan's back was a network of thin red scars that crisscrossed each other. Like the cigarette burns, they looked to be more than a decade old, and painful. Booth thought they looked like marks from a whip, but to have scarred, he knew that the whipping had to have drawn blood.

On impulse, he gathered Brennan into him arms and looked at her sleeping face. Even unconscious, she wasn't completely at peace. Booth curled up next to her cold body and rested his chin on top of her head.

"I promise, Bones. No one will ever hurt you like this again. I won't let them." With his promise, Seeley Booth fell asleep with his partner curled tightly in his arms.

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Brennan shifted slightly in her sleep, her foggy mind slightly registering the fact that she was actually warm, and much more rested than she had been in a long time. Deciding she was much too comfortable to wake up and discover why she was so comfortable, she elected to nestle further into the wall of warmth currently wrapped around her slight body.

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	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: So my mom's picking up my DVDs for me, which means that you lucky people, get more updates!! Would you agree that maybe the quick new chapters deserve some reviews? Just a thought… : )**

Morning sunlight shone weakly through the skylight on the other side of the barn. In a pile of sweet smelling hay, a man and a woman lay wound around each other, with the woman tucked close to the man's chest. She was wearing nothing but underwear, and he was missing his shirt. However, he was still wearing a red-and-silver belt buckle proclaiming that he was "cocky" and rainbow striped socks that seemed out of place with his suit pants, and the suit jacket and dress shirt tossed carelessly on the hay.

Any innocent onlooker would have assumed that the two were young lovers, headed to the mountains to do some skiing but who were caught in the snowstorm and forced to take shelter in the nearby barn. Unfortunately for the two asleep in the hay, that romantic story was not true, and their peaceful rest was almost over.

"Oh my god! Booth, what the hell do you think you're doing?!? This is completely inappropriate, and you had absolutely no right whatsoever!" Brennan scrambled back from her partner's embrace and hid herself behind a pile of straw, her eyes wide and accusing.

Booth woke up confused at the sudden lack of contact with his partner. He looked around bewildered until he locked his eyes on his partner. "Bones! I'm sorry, it's just..you were so cold! Why didn't you come up to the loft? Don't you trust me?"

"I can take care of myself, Booth. If I wanted or needed you to help me, I would have asked you. Trust is not the issue here – there was a reason I didn't come up to the loft, and you had no business forcing me to be somewhere I made a conscious decision to avoid." Brennan answered Booth in such a way he knew that she was locking away her feelings in order to evade dealing with them.

"I did what I thought what best for you Bones. I'm sorry if you don't like what happened, but I can't take it back now, and I don't think I would want to! Plus, you seemed pretty happy in the middle of the night."

"My reaction was natural – it is human instinct to gravitate towards a center of warmth, especially when one's body temperature is dangerously low. I can't work like this, Booth. I need to be partnered with someone who understands I am capable of being self-sufficient. Obviously, you are not that person. I'm going to go get dressed. When we return to D.C, I will speak with Cullen about severing our partnership."

With that, Brennan began walking across the loft to the ladder. However, she didn't anticipate Booth's reaction to her harsh words. He sprung out of nowhere to stand in front of her, multiple emotions playing in his eyes. "You wouldn't. You wouldn't _dare_ sever our partnership. I know what you're doing, Temperance. You're trying to run, because you feel vulnerable, and you think the best way to feel normal is to run away from the problem. That's not going to happen this time, Bones. You're not going anywhere until you tell me how the hell you got all those scars."

Brennan stared determinedly at a section of the wall past Booth's head, until he used her first name. Then, her head snapped up and they stared at each as he finished his speech. Brennan was backed against a wall. Booth's hands were pressed against the wall on either side of her face, and he gazed at her intently.

"Why should I tell you Booth? What makes you so special?" Brennan's voice cracked on the last word as she struggled to maintain the façade that she was fine.

"Why should you tell me? Oh, I don't know, maybe because I'm you partner? Or, maybe because I care about you? Or, how about because I carried you up here last night, and had nightmares all night long about how you could have gotten all those scars and burns? Or maybe because I then spent the night trying to figure out if I had somehow failed you, and if you had gotten any of those scars while her were partners? I'm sure I can come up with more reasons why you should tell me, instead of keeping secrets from the people who care about you!" Booth was angry now, because he couldn't do anything to help her.

Brennan's eyes revealed the hurt she was feeling and a tear slipped down her cheek as she crumbled under the intensity of his stare. Booth's anger abated instantly as he saw her fall apart, and he gathered her into a hug as she cried. "Ssshh, Bones, it's ok. It's ok. I'm sorry, Bones, I'm sorry" he murmured soothingly to her as he rubbed her back.

She pulled away from him after a few minutes, and went to sit in the nest they had been quietly sleeping in less than 30 minutes ago. After she felt him come sit down behind her, she brought her knees up to her chest and softly began to talk.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: I made up a lot of stuff in this chapter, in order to fit with my story. If you notice something that is inaccurate, feel free to leave a message, but please keep in mind that I need to fudge some facts in order to make the story fit. With that in mind, go ahead and start reading. Warning: this is not a very pleasant chapter, and it deals with some sensitive issues.**

"The most recent ones are from my trip to El Salvador. I was there identifying victims of the death squads when I was abducted by a group of men who wanted me to stop what I was doing. They bound me and transported me in a sack, and then dumped me in an underground cell where they cuffed my hands to a wall. I lost track of time while I was in there. By the time I got back to D.C., I had been gone for a month, so I spent about 3 weeks in that cell. I don't know how many of them there were. A different person came into my cell each day, usually with a knife or some other kind of instrument that could be used for torture. Sometimes they would tie me flat on the ground and pour a bucket of water over my head so I thought I would drown. Other times, they would bring a gun and shoot me in various places. Some of the wounds got infected, and even now I have side effects that include being incapable of digesting certain foods, and being unable to gain back much of the weight I lost. I wasn't a person to them, I was a toy, and they enjoyed playing with me. I wasn't the only one, either. They captured other women too, and raped them. I can still hear their screams when I sleep."

"Bones, they never..they never..did they do that to you?"

"No, Booth. Not them. I'm not done, Booth." Brennan replied softly.

"Before El Salvador, I was in Uganda. While I was there, a unit of guerilla fighters ambushed us while we were hiking to another site. They captured me and two others, but the rest of our group managed to get away and form a rescue crew. We were only in captivity for a couple of days, but I'm not sure if we would have survived had we not been rescued when we were. They wanted to kill us. We weren't allowed any food or water, and we slept in a pit. At night we had to huddle together for warmth, as they made us sleep naked. During the day, they tied our hands to the top of a pole and let us hang there. If they were in a good mood, we would go for about half a day without a beating. Otherwise, the men would take turns beating us with sticks until our backs and legs were covered in blood. With the previous scars I had on my back, I bled much more quickly than any of the others, yet they beat us all for the same amount of time. When we were rescued, the doctors said that I would have died if I had lost any more blood, especially combined with the malnutrition."

"Bones, what do you mean 'with the previous scars I had'? How many foreign countries have you been abducted in?"

"Booth, those were the only two times I've been kidnapped in a foreign country. The rest of my scars came from about 15 years ago"

"15 years ago? But, Bones, you're only 30 years….oh god, Temperance."

"I had just turned 15 when I was put into the foster system. No one came to get me out, so I left when I turned 18. Over the three years I was in the system, I lived with nine different families. Some I stayed with longer than others, but I never stayed more than 7 months in one place. Out of the nine families I stayed with, three were abusive. The original lashes on my back came from when I stayed with the Fishers. Carl Fisher was the only one of the three who abused not only me, but his family as well. I had a room – it was required – but more often than not, he forced me to sleep in the closet. If I failed to complete any of more chores, or even if I didn't do them to his satisfaction, he would beat me up, or throw things at me. Often, I missed school because the cuts and bruises were too noticeable. After a few months, I told my social worker, who began an investigation. I paid for that, but it worked. He lashed me with his belt every single night afterwards, but my social worker got me out a week later. The second family, the Grunewald's, weren't quite as bad. Eric Grunewald only abused me, so sometimes his wife was able to help with the injuries. Whenever they were particularly severe, she secretly drove me to the emergency room while he was at work. The burns on my arms, my two broken arms, my broken clavicle, and four concussions can be attributed to him. I was taken out of that home after 3 months, when my caseworker heard about the multiple trips to the hospital. The third family was the Harrisons. Mark Harrison first raped me when I was 16. He continually raped and abused me until I got pregnant and was forced to have an abortion. My caseworker removed me from the family a few days before my 17th birthday."

Brennan looked fixedly at the opposite wall, her knees still hugged tightly to her chest. She could hear Booth's breathing behind her, but she couldn't look at him. When Booth picked her up, pulled her onto his lap, and wrapped her in his arms, she stiffened and stayed motionless until she realized he was crying. "Booth..why are you crying?"

"Because, no matter how hard I try, I can't always protect you. I want to, and I try to, but I can't" his voice was a hoarse whisper as he pulled her even closer to his chest.

"Booth, you've done a better job of protecting me than anyone else. This is not your fault!" she whispered equally softly as she finally relaxed against his bare chest. "Please don't tell anyone. I don't need pity. No one else knows, except Goodman and Cullen, and Goodman is gone"

Booth shifted around until he could look into her eyes "Temperance. You're not alone. You know that, right?"

"I know, Booth. I've got you" she said quietly, her eyes never leaving his.

Without breaking his gaze, Seeley Booth slowly leaned forward and gently touched his lips to those of the woman curled in his lap.

Her eyes searched his face before leaning up to kiss him again, gently, before dropping her head and pressing closer into his embrace.

"Booth…"

He dropped his chin to the top of her head "just sleep, Bones. For now, let's just sleep."

And they did.

_Well, that's the last chapter. If there's enough interest, I might do a sequal, so tell me in you reviews if you want more! I'm off to watch my Bones DVDs, finally, so go ahead and click that little button down there : )_

_~emily~_


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